Historical Timeline

Bold Park Historical Highlights

1839

Henry Trigg was granted 500 acres of land around the current Perry House. He established quarrying and lime burning works on the land. The quarry has now become The Quarry Amphitheatre and the lime-kilns are hidden by bush in the hillside near Perry House.

1844

Walter Padbury bought Reabold Hill and the surrounding lands, an area consisting of 1,234 acres, which became known as the Limekilns Estate. He slaughtered there for many years in connection with his butchering business at the corner of St Georges Tce and King St, now the site of Padbury House.

1869

The Limekilns Estate was sold to the Birch brothers who reportedly planted a vineyard and also used the slaughter house.

1879

Joseph Perry purchased the entire estate, established horse-breaking and stock dealing, and lived in a stone cottage further east of the present Perry House.

1902

The City of Perth was granted 2,281 acres near the ocean (seafrontage, 3 miles), which became known as the Endowment Lands.

1917

Perth City Council bought the Limekilns Estate (then about 1,290 acres) for £18,000. At this time the Council recommended that a park, incorporating Reabold Hill and nearby land, be set aside, and pines were planted in the area as a park feature.

1918

The Endowment Lands, Limekilns Estate and a Beach Reserve were included within the boundaries of the City of Perth.

1920

The beginning of development of the area (housing, etc).

1936

The Perth City Council stated that "a park of 1,000 acres in extent be set apart for the people of Perth forever between Floreat Park and City Beach Estate."

1960's

Bold Park was effectively surrounded by suburban housing.

1983

The Environmental Protection Authority, in its comprehensive System 6 Study, recommended that Bold Park and adjacent bushland be preserved because of its high conservation, recreation and education value.

1987

The Friends of Bold Park Bushland Inc. formed as a community lobby group to oppose plans to urbanise some of the area and to have the park boundaries extended to reflect the System 6 recommendations.

1995

The Court Government, together with the Town of Cambridge, announced its intention to create Bold Regional Park. To create the new park, the Town of Cambridge would gift freehold land comprising the total area of Bold Park to the State Government, so it could be developed as a park for all Western Australians. The Town of Cambridge would also provide additional freehold land, to be sold to provide funding for the future management of the park. A further 19 ha of private land was also included. This was known as the Knightsbridge Land and was purchased for $3.675 million in 1993 by the Western Australian Planning Commission for regional parks and recreation purposes using funds generated by from the Metropolitan Region Improvement Tax.

At the time of the announcement, the Hon. Premier Richard Court said that Bold Regional Park would have a total area of 465 ha - bigger than Kings Park - and would be listed as an ‘A' Class Reserve. It would be managed by the Kings Park Board.

1998

On 5 March, the Hon. Premier Richard Court announced that negotiations for placing Bold Park under the control of the Kings Park Board were complete. On 15 August, Bold Park (437 hectares) was formally handed over from the Town of Cambridge to the State Government for management by the Kings Park Board. The State Government announced that both Kings Park and Bold Park would, under new legislation, be managed by the Botanic Gardens and Parks Authority, which replaced the Kings Park Board.

2001

After extensive public consultation and review, the inaugural Bold Park Environmental Management Plan 2000-2005 was released. Planning for the document was unique in that three levels of Government (local Town of Cambridge, state Botanic Gardens and Parks Authority, federal Department of Defence) worked in partnership to develop complementary plans for Perry Lakes Reserve, Bold Park and Campbell Barracks respectively.

2004

The Western Australian Ecology Centre and Reabold Hill boardwalk to the summit was completed.

2006

The Minister for the Environment; Racing and Gaming, Hon Mark McGowan, officially launched the Bold Park Management Plan for 2006-2011 at Reabold Hill on Saturday, 27 May 2006.

2011

The Bold Park Management Plan 2011–2016 was approved and endorsed by the Hon. Bill Marmion MLC, Minister for Environment; Water.

The Friends of Kings Park Native Plant Sales offer a rare chance to buy unusual native plants that are not often available from commercial nurseries, with all proceeds going towards worthwhile projects and research in Kings Park and Botanic Garden.